Transcript Effective Superintendent & School Board Communications

Effective Superintendent
& School Board
Communications
ED 7321 – School Board Relations
By : Marta Alvarez, Rusty Baldwin, Jackie McNew, Denise
Mendoza, John Rhine, Joe Stanaland, & George Thomas
Key Point #1
Be aware of the fact that how you interact with
individual board members and respond to their
requests will set the stage for how you are
perceived. Take care to establish patterns of
equal treatment with your board.
Things To Remember
• The importance of “equal-treatment” when working with board
members
• The uniqueness of the superintendent-board president
relationship
• The basics for developing an initial relationship with your board
members
• Strategies for addressing normal and emergency communications
with board
• Board standards and operating protocols
• Your situation is unique and your success is based on the needs of
your board and the strengths you possess as a leader
Key Point #2
Consider the unique needs of individual board
members when working to provide them with
“equal treatment and information.”
The Importance of Equal Treatment
• Focus on equal treatment during the honeymoon period
• Remember board members are often not prepared for their role
once elected
• Avoid creating an “Inner Circle” within the school board
• Address individual board member requests by:
– Letting your board know when you receive requests for information
or data that it will be distributed to all board members
– Curbing individual requests, establishing “equal-treatment” of all,
and reducing unmanageable requests which could waste time
Equal Treatment-Unequal?
• Consider the unique needs of the board
– Attention and Communication
• Packets/Information
– Find out what works for each member to ensure they receive the
communication with plenty of time to review and ask questions
– Some members may prefer packets
» Mailed
» Delivered
» Emailed
– Some members may prefer information given via
» Phone calls
» Emails
» Face to Face
Equal Treatment-Unequal?
• Planning on varying your communication
technique or strategy?
– Ensure you have an established base of attention
and information first
– Monitor the board members needs and make
adjustments when necessary
– If a member is feeling less important/informed find
out what the issues are and make adjustments
Key Point #3
Do not leave role expectations with your board
president to chance. Assist the board in
identifying/clarifying this important role and
your
responsibilities
in
the
working
relationship.
Superintendent-Board President
Interaction
• Superintendent-Board President
– Leadership role
• Role may be clearly defined or informal
– Meet with the board president
• Develop board agenda
– Communicate regularly with the board president
• Remember to treat and communicate with all members
equally
Superintendent-Board President
Interaction
• Superintendent-Board President
– Establish specific standards of communication
with board president
– Find out:
• What powers are given to the president by the board
• What should be communicated to all members
• What should be communicated individually to the
board president
Establishing Rapport with the School
Board President
• Initialize all ideas, make sure all board members
are involved
• Establish open discussion about president’s role
and expectations
• Develop role clarification for the president and
other board members
• Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!!!
Strategies for Helping the Board
Understand Its Role
• Use a consultant to conduct a seminar with your
board. e.g. TASB
• Provide articles that relate to school board roles and
responsibilities
• Meet informally with the board president/members
to help them understand their role
• Use other school board members who have served on
a school board to help you get the point across about
your school board’s roles
Strategies that Keep Board Relations
Productive
• Communicate frequently
• Contact school board president in advance for
developing the board agenda
• Understand early on how the board views their
roles and educate them regularly on their roles
• Assist in developing and adopting tools for
board self-evaluation
Strategies that Keep Board Relations
Productive
• Provide the board with ideas related to the
superintendent’s evaluation
• Remember mutual respect and
communication to all board members is a
must
Pitfalls to Avoid
• Forgetting to contact the school board president when
serious issues arise
• Not communicating frequently enough
• Failure to recognize school board members when
announcing district successes
• Interfering with school board conflict
• Engaging in negative behavior with the school board
president about other school board members
• Taking action on items with the board president when
other board members are not involved
Key Point #4
Keep in mind that the individual you will speak
with most in the district is the board president.
Understand the complexity of this unique
relationship and take the necessary steps to
ensure success.
Establishing Superintendent – Board
President Interaction Norms
• Establish a communication process
• Discuss the procedures for communication
with the board president and superintendent
• All members involved (formal agenda)
• Address all newly elected members on
protocol
Superintendent/School Board Role
Clarification
• Use consultant from the search firm
• Informational articles
• Meet informally with board
• Use consultant from an organization (TASB)
• Bring in guest board member to clarify roles
Key Point #5
The most important relationship you will need
to nurture is the one between you and the
board; you will need to put together a
purposeful communication plan to build this
relationship.
Keeping Relations Productive
• Desired frequency of communications
• Develop standards for communication (when)
• Develop agenda together
• Understand how the board views the role of the president
• Assist president in developing board evaluation tools
• Willingness to serve as sounding board for board president
• Assist president with ideas for superintendent evaluation
• Always introduce board president at meetings
Avoiding Pitfalls
• Contact president when serious issues arise
• Taking the president’s authority
• Failing to acknowledge the president for successes
• Always refer board conflict to president
• Never gossip with president or other members
• Never take action on just the president’s issues
without the rest of the board’s input
Avoiding Pitfalls
• Maintain full communication and trust with
the board president
• Board President should and will be your main
supporter when others may have problems
with you
Key Point #6
In the establishment of your communication
plan, be sure to address communication forms
and frequency.
Successful Communication:
Form and Frequency
• Form and frequency related to board
member communication varies by district
• New superintendents are expected to quickly
understand the district’s unique issues
• New superintendents randomly choose their
communication strategy, often without
establishing form or frequency
Frequency of Communication
• Two primary areas of frequency of
communication
– Emergency communication
– Normal communication
Forms of Communication and the
Pros and Cons
• E-mail
• Phone call
• Hard copy
• Face-to-face meetings
Email Pros
• Easily Produced
• Efficient (takes less time than phone call)
• Preferred method by most individuals
• Provides documentation of communication
Email Cons
• E-mail is part of public record.
• Some board members see it as impersonal
• Can be easily forwarded to others
• Limits opportunity for expanded conversation
• Can violate open meetings laws if sent to all members
simultaneously. Be careful not to ask board members to
make decisions via e-mail, which could be construed as
conducting a meeting without public notice
Email Strategies
• Use to communicate non-confidential
information
• Ask the school attorney to place confidentiality
statement to all out going e-mails
• Ask board members for communication
preference
• Can be used as periodic communication strategy
Phone Pros
• Provides quick feedback
• Reasonably efficient
• Offers personal touch to communication
• Provides opportunity to expand conversation
• Allows for confidential conversation
Phone Cons
• Require respondent’s availability to establish
communication
• Not as efficient as e-mail, especially if
multiple individuals are to be contacted
• Hard to document content of conversation
Phone Strategies
• Establish preferred contact times with
individuals and record for future use
• Establish call log to confirm when
conversations take place
Hardy Copy Pros
• Easily Documented
• Provides opportunity for attachments
without scanning
• More formal than e-mail or phone
communication
Hard Copy Cons
• Time consuming to develop and distribute
• Reproduced easily (lacks confidentiality)
Hard Copy Strategies
• Lends itself well to normal communication
• Provide cover sheet with hard copy indicating
some material may be confidential
Face to Face Pros
• Most personal form of communication
• Establishes rapport
• Provides venue for expanded discussion
• Provides greater opportunity to assess
reaction to items being communicated
Face to Face Cons
• Most inefficient method of communication,
very time consuming
• Can be difficult with detractors
• Hard to document content of meeting
Face to Face Strategies
• Most effective when established as a communication
method in superintendent’s tenure
• Best way to establish “equal time” standard, when
meetings are conducted prior to board meetings to
review agenda
• In important or difficult situations produce a
summary of issues addressed and e-mail to members
• If important issues are discussed or ideas generated
send e-mail to other board members
Communication Ideas and Items to
Consider
• E-mail options
• Phone call options
• Hard copy options
• Face-to-face meetings options
E-mail Recommendations
• Send out weekly school district updates
• Employ an e-mail communication system which
provides updates to board members
• Use e-mail as a means of communication during
periods of crisis
• Utilize e-mail as a means to communicate efficiently
during periods of crisis
• Apply e-mails as a method to distribute general
school board information
Phone Call Recommendations
• Use phone calls to add emphasis to an important message
• Call board members to check in, see how they are doing,
and find out if they have questions about things going on
in the district
• Contact board members by phone to discuss personal
issues
• Consider district provided cell phones for board members
to enhance communication
Items to Consider
• Always use phone calls to add a personal
touch, but because of their time consuming
nature, apply this form purposefully
• Set the standard early that phone calls will be
used as one form of communication (keep in
mind technological proficiency)
Hard Copy Recommendations
• Send out hard copy of items which you want
to guard against being widely distributed
• Send out thank you cards or birthday cards to
board members to further build relationship
• Use hard copy to communicate all legal
documents
Items to Consider
• Over time move board members away from
hard copy communication as they are
cumbersome and inefficient
• Analyze which items are appropriate for hard
copy communication and design a migration
process for other documents
Face-to-Face Meeting
Recommendations
• Establish early a regular timeline to meet with
each board member to discuss important
questions such as:
– As a district are we aligning our operations with our
vision, mission, and goals?
– Are we effectively measuring our performance
against our vision, mission, and goals?
– What are things you are excited about in our district?
Face-to-Face cont.
• Identify things that require attention in the
district
• Prior to attending school events prepare
yourself by thinking about what the three most
pressing issues are at that point in the district
• Use face-to-face meetings to communicate the
most confidential of information
Items to Consider
• Identify other locally important issues to
discuss during your face-to-face meetings
with board members
• Always record in writing the out come of
face-to-face conversations with board
members for future reference
Key Point #7
Be purposeful in designing a process related to
when and how you will make contact with your
board when emergency situations arise.
Emergency Communication
• How does the board member want to receive
communication?
• Availability of board members
• Understand how you will engage board
members quickly and efficiently especially in
times of crises
Normal Communication
• Normal communication is much more purposeful
• Aimed at providing information on an ongoing basis
• Indicates your willingness to be open with the board
• Develop a communication plan and dutifully stick to it
Communication Plan
• Forms of communication
• Communication ideas and items to be
considered
• Frequency of communication
Key Point #8
Periodically review the impact of your
communication plan with your board members.
Make the necessary adjustments and
refinements to your plan and your strategies to
maintain good superintendent-board relations.
Emergency
• Crucial to understand how the
superintendent can most efficiently and
effectively make contact with individual
board members
• Important to clearly understand how you will
engage board members quickly and
efficiently, especially in times of crisis
Normal
• Provides an opportunity to consider many
different methods for planned periodic
communication
• Should be a function of identified board
member preferences
• Should be aimed at providing information on
an ongoing basis
Most Important
• Develop a communication plan and dutifully
stick to it
Emergency Situations
• Understand the importance of the superintendentboard president relationship
• Establish communication guidelines from the get go
• Establish the emergency criteria to immediately
contact the board
• Work with your board to set standards and
procedures for emergency notification
Communication Plan
• Create and commit to an operating protocol
• Require a “refocusing” or “refinement” of the original
plan
•
• Know the priority of gauging board member
perceptions
• Constantly assess the perceptions of board members
• Address negative ideas held by some members
• Maintain clear roles and open communication
Sources
• Eller, J., & Carlson, H. (2009). So now you’re
the superintendent! Thousand Oakes, CA:
Corwin Press.
• Chapman, C. (1997). Becoming a
superintendent: Challenges of school
district leadership. Upper Saddle rIver, NJ:
Merrill Prentice Hall.